Category: Technology

Podcasts are like blogging – still fairly new to me. I’ve had this app on my iPhone for god knows how long. I remember thinking why do I even have this on here. I never bothered to explore or discover, it was just “one of those apps Apple decided you need”.

Then I saw a question in a decluttering group about how people got inspiration to declutter. It certainly grabbed my attention and I started reading (because let’s face it, sometimes we need a little kick in the bum to stay motivated) and in those comments I came across a mention of podcasts, specifically A Slob Comes Clean & The Minimalists. I listened to these right from the first episode all the way through to the most recent – and I was HOOKED!!!

Right now I’m up-to-date on Intention, A Slob Comes Clean, Straight & Curly & The Minimalists, I’m currently working on Create & Thrive.

A Slob Comes Clean – Dana White originally started her blog as Noni (short for anonymous) and has since moved to podcasting (as well as continuing her blog and has also recently published a book). This was the first Podcast I ever listened to and I generally listened to it while cleaning. She has a unique, honest view on cleaning and about her “Slob Vision” that just spoke directly to me.

The Minimalists – These guys were my first introduction into minimalism. Now, my house is NOWHERE near minimalist. Not by a long shot. But I do love their message and it has encouraged me to keep going with the cleaning and decluttering. They have also made me realise that being a minimalist doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have anything out on display or you have like 30 items per person. There are all different “brands” of minimalism.

Straight & Curly is for self-improvement junkies and was a recommendation in iTunes. They talk about a wide range of things and was the inspiration behind my Facebook hiatus over Christmas. I loved it so much that I think I will do the same thing every school holidays.

Intention – this is only a fairly new podcast and I discovered them through Instagram. What really caught my eye, is that Intentional is my one word for 2017, so I HAD to listen to it. So far, I’m really enjoying it.

The Create & Thrive Podcast – This year I am really concentrating on turning my hobby into a business and I joined Jess’ Thriver Circle. I’m giving my business my all this year and this podcast is full of hints and tips to help me on this journey.

So these are my favourite podcasts right now, I add new podcasts as I finish/get up to date on a previous one. Eg: I’ve just finished Intentional, now I’m moving onto catching up on the Create & Thrive one, then I will need a new one to listen to 😉 But I always pause my binge listening when new episodes come out of ones I’ve already gotten up to date with. So I’m always on the search of my next podcast.

What is your favourite Podcast and where do you listen to it? I’m curious about Serial, as I’ve heard it’s very good. But always open to something new 🙂

My Facebook sabbatical / technology lite time starts now. I have asked a friend to keep an eye on things, scheduled posts and changed the header pic of my Facebook hobby page, I’ve let friends and family know and almost a week ago started a countdown timer courtesy of 99 Days of Freedom on my personal page.

All custom orders have been picked up, Facebook is deactivated. I have had many questions running through my head, and also people asking me. How long will I actually last? Not sure, I’d love the whole 99 days, but will be satisfied with the school holidays (until February). Will I miss out? Not on the important things that are right in front of me. What will I do? Anything I want! Spend time with family and friends.

Yesterday, I turned all notifications off on my phone, I deleted unnecessary apps and I reduced the number of email accounts I own and got all 3 necessary inboxes to ZERO! I’m starting this “experiment” fresh with no distractions.

I still have Instagram to post pics of the kids and our family time so family and friends can stay up to date. Since deleting Facebook/groups/messenger apps from my phone approx 1 month ago I found that not only do I have more time available when I don’t sneak onto Safari and browse Facebook but when I scroll through Instagram, I’m done really quickly. I’m not click baited into reading an article that really doesn’t interest me and it’s not a time vacuum wasteland. So for now, Instagram stays.

I have happily taken up reading again and actually started enjoying sewing. It’s only a few days in from the start of the holidays but am already feeling lighter, less overwhelmed, less stressed and more inspired. I’m encouraged by this and am hoping the feeling continues and increases for the whole time.

I’ve now (publically) made the decision to deactivate Facebook for at least the school holidays. And you know what I feel: relief. I need time to recharge, relax, rest and reevaluate all the things going on in my life.

I’ll still be working through my plan and slightly altering as needed. Deciding what is important and what direction I want to go. Will it be perfect? Probably not. Will I have all the answers? I wish. But I will have more calm, more authentic interactions and more time.

busy (adjective)

1. having a great deal to do.

“he had been too busy to enjoy himself”

Even the definition of busy smacks you right in the face doesn’t it!? Too busy to enjoy yourself. I read a fantastic article called Busy is the New Fine – Why I am Fighting Back and it really resonated with me. That’s one of the reasons I finally finished making my plan and writing these articles. I need this plan in place, to knock things off one at a time ready for the School Holidays that is coming up soon (super, super quickly!). And hopefully inspire someone to take a break from busy!

My Sewing Plan:

Sewing has been such a stressful part of my life for so long it’s no longer as enjoyable as it once was. Changes need to be made, they may not be permanent changes, but hopefully it will bring the joy back into the process.

Finish my large sewing order!

Re-stock the shop.

Say ‘no’ to more Custom Orders.

2017 will ONLY be sewing for the shop & embroidery work for markets.

My Studying Plan:

“Everything you do now is for your future. Think about that”. Studying is sometimes hard, and I realise I need to ask for help sometimes, I’m determined to complete this certificate.

Get back into the swing of things and actually commit to studying at least one day a week.

2017 finish certificate by Easter.

My Technology Plan:

More and more I find I’m living and enjoying moments through my phone. I’m missing out on the little things and that’s not right. So I’m taking a leaf from PopSugars Digital Detox, changing it slightly to suit me and going without as much as possible.

Delete Facebook, Groups & Messenger Apps – if people want me, they can text or call.

Experiences will bring myself and my family joy and create wonderful memories, NOT stuff. This may not seem like much of a plan, BUT it’s my plan. I feel relieved making this and “writing” it down. How about you? If you could do anything, what would it be? If you could declutter your mind and your life, where would you start?

Yesterday was an emotional day. It started out fantastically, had my healthy Michelle Bridges 12WBT breakfast – Mango & Granola Yoghurt Parfait with fresh mango – mmmmm I love this time of year for fruit! Followed by a walk with 2 friends after school drop off.

Then while having my morning tea (yoghurt), decided to finally tackle my iCloud that was FULL. Which was affecting my phone because it was backing all my documents from my laptop (MacBook Air) to my iCloud account and therefore filling up my phone. My first port of call of course was Apple themselves. I needed to be sure how to delete these properly so that it wouldn’t remove the files from my computer – after following the steps given and being assured no, it would not delete the stuff from my computer, only the backups in iCloud, I deleted. EVERYTHING. All items on my desktop, allllll items in my Documents which coincidentally also included all of my tafe assessments, and yes, my current one that is 6 pages long.

And guess what – it DID NOT just delete it from my iCloud account – IT DELETED IT FROM MY COMPUTER!!!!!!

I wanted to cry – in fact, I did. A lot! And then cried a bit more! Because it took me 4 more phone calls to Apple and NO SOLUTIONS. Only that I could recover the last 1000 files deleted. Obviously I had more then 1000 files – how many more? I have no idea! What are the names of some of the files you’ve lost? Also, do not know all of them. (Seriously, these were some question I got from Apple, I didn’t know how many or what they were all called – I just knew they were ALL GONE!!!!!)

I yelled, I bargained, I cried. Then, I drank. A strong Vodka. What in the world do I do. Gave my friend a call who is much more tech savvy then I am. She didn’t know either. Arghhhhhh Not good. This assessment took me WEEKS of back and forth, is it right, is it not, editing, and driving me crazy. And the smart thing is – I have a 2TB external hard drive and I HAVE NEVER SET IT UP!!!

Yep…… I’m super smart sometimes…..

So I hit google. I searched and searched and searched some more. I read soooooo many forums and finally, I saw some light. One forum suggested that they had recovered all of their 8000+ files but it was a long process. You know what, I’ll take it and give it a go! And guess what? IT WORKED!!!

So for all you Mac users out there, if you accidentally delete all of your files from iCloud and desperately need them back, here’s what to do:

Go to iCloud.com

Go to settings

Scroll down the bottom left, top option restore files, click it

Select all

Restore.

Now this may take a while, it also may say it doesn’t work. Never fear. Give it five minutes. Refresh your screen. Possibly log out and log back in again and then repeat the above process as many times as needed. Because GUESS WHAT? When you restore 1000 files and refresh, the next 1000 files are there waiting!!!!!

Yes, it’s a slow process and no, I’m not done yet. But phew! I got my assessment back, I got a lot of my documents back so far and you have no idea how relieved I am.

Remember though, you only have 30 days to recover your deleted files, so if this has happened to you more then 1 month ago I’m sorry, this won’t work 😦

So my technological nightmare was mostly fixed. I didn’t stab anyone in the process 😉 and I have my assessment and quite a few of those important documents back. I also saved my tafe stuff to Dropbox AND setup my external hard drive as well as backing up what I’ve already recovered.